Duken

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Sparta sat by the bed, holding the enlistment notice Eric had brought him.

He was both excited and nervous.

He was excited because joining the Military Department would let him leave the Viltrumite Empire and head into space to carry out missions.

He was nervous because he knew nothing about the Military Department's environment. He did not know whether veteran soldiers would deliberately bully recruits for amusement, what the other recruits were like, or whether they would be difficult to get along with.

Time passed second by second, and soon it was eight in the morning.

The door was pushed open, and Sparta knew Eric had arrived.

Sure enough, accompanied by heavy footsteps, Eric soon reached the bedroom doorway.

He stood outside, silently watching Sparta sitting by the bed.

"Let's go. To the Military Department."

Sparta stood and asked in confusion, "What should I bring?"

Eric gently shook his head. "You don't need to bring anything. Just make sure you have your enlistment notice. The Military Department will prepare everything else for you."

"I understand."

With the enlistment notice in hand, he followed Eric out of the house.

Eric took off first, with Sparta close behind. One after the other, they flew toward the distance.

Before long, an enormous building appeared before them.

Sparta had no idea how tall it was, but he was certain it was at least ten thousand meters high.

Their destination was on the right side of that massive building: the 21st Recruit Company.

As they approached, more and more Viltrumites filled the air. At a glance, there were no fewer than a thousand Viltrumites flying overhead.

Sparta's attention was not held by those Viltrumites for long, because most of his thoughts were focused on that building.

What kind of building was that? Who was inside it? What sort of people were qualified to enter such a place?

Eric looked back. Seeing Sparta's interest, he began to explain.

"That is the Military Department Command Center. It is twelve thousand meters tall, three thousand three hundred and thirty-three meters wide, and has a total of two thousand five hundred floors. It is divided into the lower, middle, upper, and top sections. It is the tallest building in the Viltrumite Empire."

"Most of the Military Department's officers live inside. Only those with the rank of warrant officer or above are qualified to reside there."

"The higher the floor, the higher the rank. Your mother and I both live in the upper section, while the top section is occupied by a group of generals."

"We're here. Follow me down."

Sparta followed Eric down onto the Recruit Company's square, where quite a few recruits reporting for duty had already gathered.

Some had come with their fathers, some with their mothers, and others had arrived alone.

They all shared one trait: they were victors of the Coming-of-Age Trial.

"Colonel Eric."

A dark-skinned Viltrumite approached Eric with his child and gave a respectful salute.

Eric gave a slight nod and responded with an indifferent "Mm."

The other man did not take offense. He merely led his child to stand off to the side.

Sparta looked over the dark-skinned child, who was likewise looking him over.

Their eyes met, and the other boy grinned, exposing two rows of teeth.

Perhaps it was the contrast with his dark skin, but those two rows of teeth looked impossibly white.

"Mm—!"

The boy raised an arm, clenched his fist hard, and made a sound like he was constipated.

He was obviously showing off the bicep on his arm.

Sparta turned to look elsewhere and ignored him.

"Smack!"

At the sharp sound of a slap, Sparta curiously turned back.

The dark-skinned Viltrumite had slapped the smooth back of his son's head.

"I told you not to make that stupid gesture again, Duken."

Duken rubbed the back of his head with a deeply aggrieved expression.

But when he noticed Sparta looking at him, he once again bared those two rows of gleaming white teeth.

So this bald, dark-skinned boy was called Duken. He looked like an idiot.

Sparta thought to himself that although the Viltrumite Empire was stifling, it was not devoid of energetic people.

Maybe it was because they were young and had not experienced much.

Once they grew older and went through more, they would probably become cold and heartless too.

"Sparta, go register over there."

Sparta followed Eric's gaze.

A records clerk sat at a table not far away, with several Viltrumites standing behind him with their hands behind their backs.

"Okay."

Sparta nodded. Holding his enlistment notice, he stepped out from behind Eric and went to stand at the back of the line to wait for registration.

Duken also stepped out from behind his father and lined up behind Sparta.

"I heard just now that your name is Sparta, right?"

Sparta turned to look at Duken behind him. "That's right. I know your name is Duken."

"Hehehe." Duken rubbed his smooth bald head and grinned like a fool. "I don't have any friends. Do you want to be friends with me?"

"What kind of friends?"

"The kind where you hit me, and I hit you."

"What did you say?"

"Isn't that how it works? My father said friends are people who get together and fight every day. The harder they fight, the better their relationship is."

"You... I... he... uh..."

Sparta was momentarily speechless. Since when had friendship been defined as beating each other up?

Oh—this was the Viltrumite Empire. Then it was fine. Perfectly normal.

He did not understand it, but he respected it.

"I don't need friends."

To keep himself from getting beaten up, Sparta replied with a blank expression.

After all, he had no strength to speak of, while Duken was built like a young bull.

He could not beat him. No chance.

"Ah, all right."

Duken sighed regretfully.

Sparta's eyelid twitched. He seriously suspected Duken had masochistic tendencies.

Otherwise, why would he want to make friends just to beat each other up?

An awkward silence fell between them as the line reached Sparta.

"Enlistment notice."

The clerk spoke without even raising his head.

Sparta hurriedly placed the enlistment notice in his hand on the table.

The clerk opened it, took out the document inside, gave it a casual glance, then placed it beside him.

"Sparta Quinte, Second Platoon, Third Squad. Next."

The clerk waved a hand, signaling for Sparta to leave.

Sparta stepped into the only passageway ahead. Beyond it was a spacious hall.

Inside were three neat rows of recruits, with three officer-like Viltrumites standing before each row.

Seeing this, Sparta silently joined the line marked "Second Platoon."

Not long after he took his place, Duken also entered and joined the first platoon.

Once all the recruits had finished registering, the officers standing before each platoon said:

"First Platoon, follow me!"

"Second Platoon, follow me!"

"Third Platoon, follow me!"

Sparta followed the group through a corridor and arrived at the dormitory area for Second Platoon.

Three squad leaders stood there waiting for them with cold expressions.

The platoon commander stopped and turned to face the twenty-seven recruits, Sparta included.

"Now, follow your squad leaders into the dormitories."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three squad leaders spoke in turn.

"First Squad, stand behind me."

"Second Squad, stand behind me."

"Third Squad..."